Gay friendly churches in Charlotte NC

On my journey to capture a ray of spiritual awareness, I decided to visit some gay affirming churches in Charlotte, NC. I emailed most of them before I went. All of the churches responded positively and invited me to attend one of their services. Here is a quick breakdown with comments.

Carolina Center For Spiritual Awakening (2018 UPDATE)- A recently formed New Thought church with positive, friendly people. Rev Christy Snow is an inspired motivational speaker and musician. Sunday services in Charlotte are located in “The Hut” at the Johnston YMCA. The service include meditation, music, and an uplifting talk based on Science of Mind, Unity, and authors like Deepak Chopra, and Wayne Dyer. They are a warm accepting group of people and you will leave with feeling better.

MCC Church– Very friendly, we were greeted after the service with hugs. Most of the congregation are Gay. Casual attire. Nice service.

Wedgewood Baptist Church– Larger church, decent service, and the preacher came up to us after the service and introduced himself.

Myers Park Baptist Church– Very beautiful church with very large congregation. Service was OK. Most people were dressed in suits and ties. Easy to feel anonymous due to the size of the congregation.

Spiritual Living Center of Charlotte– (2018 UPDATE) This church is no longer in operation. A medium sized Religious Science church with positive, friendly people looking to change their lives and the lives of others through the teachings of Science of Mind. Great music, Indian flutes. Very touchy-feely emotional services. My favorite so far. The ministers are a lesbians.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte– Very nice building, services tended to be very cerebral and lacking emotional impact. However, the congregation was very friendly and inviting and seemed to do a lot for the community including RAIN and other organizations . The minister was also very kind and took time to meet with me and my partner. I will probably go back to try out another service.

Unity Church Charlotte– I attended an EFT class at this church. The building is new and the people were very friendly, but I have not been to a Sunday service. Very similiar approach to Religious Science but with more focus on the teachings of Jesus as a spirtual leader. Never responded to my email asking about their stance on gays and lesbians.

Center of Light Charlotte– a Christian Mystic church. After their positive response to my email asking about their stance on gays, I attended one of their Sunday services. The congregation is small (10) and they incorporate communion and some Catholic traditions but focus on our personal connections with Jesus and Mary. Very friendly, services were OK and involved some singing and a period of meditation. If you are uncomfortable with the whole communion thing you might want to pass otherwise it is worth checking out. Might attend one of their weekly lectures or movies.

The Churches listed below are gay friendly but I have not attended and only list them for reference. Try them all out until you find one you like.

15 COMMENTS

Thanks for posting this information. I have been trying to find a church that would accept me for who I am and wouldn’t look down on my sexuality. If you still utilize this blog, would you mind sharing any additional info you have come across with respect to gay friendly churches in the area? The search has been so tough because I can’t find everything I want…but I refuse to go to a Southern Baptist church again–I did that for 18 years and I’m over it :) Thanks again!

If you are wanting to go to a Christian church that has a predominantly gay community, I would suggest MCC church in Charlotte. Almost everyone is gay including the preacher and they definitely won’t “look down” on your sexuality. Whether or not you like the services is a different matter and you just need to attend a couple of times to decide.

For a spiritual but non-denominational feel good experience, I would try the Spiritual Living Center of Charlotte. The preachers are both gay and the congregation is mixed. However, it is not a Christian church and focuses on many ideas in “The Secret” using Religious Science.

I began attending Holy Covenant United Church of Christ 2 years ago, after a 25-year separation from church life altogether due to painful experiences related to my sexual orientation. Holy Covenant declared itself officialy lgbt “open and affirming” a decade ago. I have found the congregation to be extremely welcoming in all respects, very diverse and very supportive of all its attenders, regardless of orientation or gender identity. I also enjoy the rich diversity each Sunday–young children (from both traditional and non-traditional families), older folks, a mix of ethnicities and the full range of L G B & T. The church is also very involved in many types of social justice issues, as well as the environment. I encourage anyone to visit. http://www.holycovenantucc.org/

Hi, Tony. I ran across this post online again and wondered if you’d had a chance to visit Holy Covenant UCC (on Harris Blvd). If you come to visit, I’d love to meet you.
I’m still attending HC and enjoying it a great deal. People have all sorts of preferences when it comes to church services, and I appreciate how you gave a feel for the churches in your post. I’d describe Holy Covenant as a traditional church setting with nontraditional church thinking. There’s a real mix of LGBT families and straight allies, and the comittment to LGBT social justice issues (as well as other social justice issues) is very strong.

Thanks so much for this article! I was getting frustrated with my search…I’m relocating from Virginia to the Charlotte area post-divorce, and, while I am straight, I am extremely active in the LGBT community (was on the board of directors for our local pride organization) and wish to raise my children in an affirming church.

Thanks for the tips, and I will definitely check out some of these houses of worship!
~m

Hi, I am Anderson ([email protected]) and am moving to Wilkes County for a year to work as a visiting international teacher. I’m from Brazil and would like to find a gay friendly church in Charlotte with a predominantly gay community of members. I attend Baptist church here in Brazil. Can anyone give me a hint?

I was wondering if anyone could help, I am looking for a very traditional, presbyterian or United Methodist church that is affirming or at least tolerant, like I said though, very traditional, kinda high litergy… Episcopal or Lutheran may be a little too high church…

Tony, just wanted to thank you again for your insightful post. Since I first read this post and replied back in 2010, it looks like others have caught on and you have reached a number of people :) I would like to say I did visit Caldwell Memorial a few times last year and absolutely loved it….it had the racial diversity, the inclusion of gays and lesbians, and overall loving vibe I have desired in a church setting. Everyone was friendly. The choir was awesome! The detriment was distance as I live 40 minutes away and don’t like long drives. Because I live in a very conservative suburb, I’ll have to get over it and realize these inclusive churches that fit the bill for me personally are going to require a drive every Sunday morning. This site has been so helpful for me in looking for a welcoming church. I just need to have the nerve to get up and go by myself! Thanks again and good luck to all of you who use this site to find a safe and welcoming spiritual home. May you all find what you seek–myself included!

Thank you for this information I would go to church but when I get home I would feel like I could never connet with my family still fully don’t accept me but I going to go soon everyone have a bless day again thank you